CLEVELAND — One judge’s solution for citizens feeling less secure because of budget cuts in an Ohio county: Carry a gun.
Judge Alfred Mackey of Ashtabula County Common Pleas Court advised residents Friday to be vigilant and arm themselves because the number of deputies has been cut about in half because of a tight budget. He also urged neighbors to organize anti-crime block watch groups.
“They have to be law-abiding, and if they are not familiar with firearms they need to take a safety course so they are not a threat to their family and friends and themselves,” Mackey said Friday. Mackey, whose comments were first broadcast Thursday by WKYC-TV in Cleveland, was expressing concerns with budget cuts that have trimmed the sheriff’s department from 112 to 49 deputies in the county, which is Ohio’s largest by land area.
Asked by WKYC how people should respond to the cuts and limited patrols, he said, “Arm themselves. Be very careful and just be vigilant because we’re going to have to look after each other.” With deputies assigned to transport prisoners and serve warrants, only one radio car is assigned to patrol the county of 720 square miles, excluding municipalities with police departments. The sheriff’s patrol area covers most of the county, the judge said Friday. “People in this county are hunters,” said Mackey, who grew up on a farm with rifles and still owns firearms.
If the government were not so concerned about generating income by enforcing petty laws, they could use their energy for real crime prevention. Maybe the answer is more taxes….more..more..more.
Well… Good luck with that with all the gun control there is now. Criminals are better armed than the military it seems like.
“if they are not familiar with firearms they need to take a safety course so they are not a threat to their family and friends and themselves”
It is clear that this judge isn’t a gun nut.
Go militia like the northeastern states…wisconsin *cough* and it’s all good. Just make sure to proclaim you’re a sane person and doing it to help protect the nation, because you know…you are the nations security >.>
Police do not protect anyone from thieves. Only thing I need to protect myself from theives is my shot gun.
However I need the sheriff to protect me from the local police and I need the state police to protect me from the sheriff, and I just pray to God to protect me from the state police.
So my 2 cents is if they were all laid off I would be just fine.
And again because someone has to whine about taxes…
“While his 1952 landslide gave the Republicans control of both houses of the Congress, Eisenhower believed that taxes could not be cut until the budget was balanced. “We cannot afford to reduce taxes, [and] reduce income,” he said, “until we have in sight a program of expenditure that shows that the factors of income and outgo will be balanced.” Eisenhower kept the national debt low and inflation near zero.”
Man up.
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#5. It’s not about cutting taxes, but about spending tax money wisely. Even a moron like yourself should know that.
#6
I would agree, but you did not mention using taxes wisely, nor even implied it.
“Maybe the answer is more taxes….more..more..more.”
Back peddling replacing poor writing & pandering to fear of taxes being brought BACK to normal after years of cuts by Bush, Clinton, Bush & now Obama. C- Mr. McCullough.
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I especially liked the poster’s comment:
– If the government were not so concerned about generating income by enforcing petty laws, they could use their energy for real crime prevention. Maybe the answer is more taxes….more..more..more.
Why protect the citizenry when there are all those nasty hemp dealers to apprehend?
Lets get our priorities straight!!
Sounds good. Keep the deputies busy so they are not enforcing petty traffic laws or entrapping people via stings.
“Judge Alfred Mackey of Ashtabula County Common Pleas Court advised residents Friday to be vigilant and arm themselves because the number of deputies has been cut about in half because of a tight budget. He also urged neighbors to organize anti-crime block watch groups.”
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Sounds like reasonable and sound advice to me.
I am NOT advocating that everyone carry a gun with them (oh please, please don’t everyone carry a gun!). The reality is that since we do not all have a fireman, policeman and lawyer following us around each day we all have to be reasonably prepared to be our own first line of defense against the bad things that can happen to us and our families. Obviously we can’t be equipped to handle all potential bad stuff, but you would be surprised what you can prepare for.
The key word here is “reasonably” prepared.
I would really like to see government funding put up for a referendum, where the public helps allocate all the percentages of expenditure.
How each citizen citizen allocates their taxes would have a real effect on how the country runs. It’s no worse than what we have now, and might be very good indeed.
The entire economic market must lower all prices. lower prices means less means to live, less means to live means less pay needed. less pay means more funds to hire personnel on the streets.
that or they could just cut everyone’s paychecks in half and rehire the other half of workers.
I’d like to donate ammo in some neighborhoods.
Smart judge since the SCOTUS has already ruled that the police have no responsibility to protect any individual.
#13 Hey, don’t drag Texas into this cluster. Outside the cities of Dallas, Austin and Houston may be somewhat backwards but at least they have the decency of having low standards.
LOL #14 have any 556?
Finally someone who interpits our constitution.
#2, actually we gun nuts are very safety conscious.
It’s why the gun accident rate is so low.
But still not zero, so there is room for improvement.
Having a gun for self-defense is not a whole lot different from having fire extinguishers. The fire department is still THERE, but you and your extinguisher are HERE.
An armed society is a polite society.
Look at how much of a “wild west” DC turned into after the citizenry were finally allowed to own guns, an undeniable right protected in the Constitution. Oh wait, violent crime dropped 20% in just a few months……..
#12 “I would really like to see government funding put up for a referendum,”
How do you thing California got into the mess their in? Referendums were pass for all their Government Spending but non for paying for it.
Why do you think the Founding Fathers only let people who pay taxes vote. 47% of people in the USA now don’t pay Fed income tax. Some of those even get money back. What reasons do they have to stop the government from wasting money?
The Police DO NOT “Protect” you. A judge recently ruled as much. They are there only to find somebody with enough bleach to clean up the mess afterwards, and attempt to charge somebody with the crime. That’s why when I retire in a couple of years, I am moving to any other Western state besides California, because they ALL allow concealed carry.